What type of controller will you be using for Elite Dangerous

Patrick_68000

Patrick_68000
SAB380 said:
Sounds like the Saitek x52 pro is the most popular choice.

Done, just bought off ebay.


Now I just need Elite Beta to use it with ....and you know I've got to buy an actual computer to play it on :D
Click to expand...

ED has certainly brought a few thousand customers to the computer manufacturer and component vendors. To me, Ed is a good excuse to upgrade my computer. Otherwise I would not have done

;)
 

Skyee

S
It seems that the X52 Pro is selling out eveywhere, found mention to it in the Star Citizen forums as well, so probably will need to wait or more are produced.

Skyee
 

steve_c

S
There were 9 X52 in stock on Amazon this morning. I got into work and decided to order one and noticed there were only 2 left in stock.

Flying off the shelves it seems...
 

jamieboo

J
I just got an X52 from ebay - pretty cheap as they'd misspelled Saitek so I guess it wasn't showing up in searches!
However I haven't used a joytstick in about 20 years, so I downloaded World of Warplanes to try out the stick and shake off my rust - and I discover I'm utterly rubbish at joystick control!! Hopefully I'll be a little better by the time beta emerges.
Actually, on that very subject, is World of Warplanes a good thing to practice on? If not, what do you reckon would be best to help me hopefully rediscover my joystick skills!?
 

ianw

I
SAB380 said:
Sounds like the Saitek x52 pro is the most popular choice.

Done, just bought off ebay.


Now I just need Elite Beta to use it with ....and you know I've got to buy an actual computer to play it on :D
Click to expand...

Minor detail.

You could always watch some of the alpha videos - plug your stick and pretend you're flying.

In fact I think there's a top tip there - "Save money on alpha - watch the videos and pretend you're flying!"

:D
 

jamieboo

J
Ah yes, thanks Com. Vickers. I started downloading WarThunder last night and should be able to take it for a spin when I get home this evening. I don't want to be tempted into thinking it'll magically reveal me to be great at a stick after all, though! ;)
Maybe I should dig out my old copy of I-War 2... although that ancient disc probably won't work on Windows 7. Hmm.
 

Adept

Adept
I had to send my Saitek back when I tried it. It just wasn't for me. Going with Thrustmaster now that Logitech no longer makes the FFB version of their stick.
 

Skulldugg3ry

Skulldugg3ry
I purchased a Saitek X52 Pro over the holidays. It's been a very difficult adjustment for this old mouse/keyboard user!

I was a kid last I used a joystick (an old Sidewinder many a year ago) and although I can tell that the X52 Pro is a quality piece of hardware, I just can't get over the range of motion you have to go through in order to make fine aim corrections. I guess I'm so used to being able to move the mouse ever so slightly to make those millimeter targeting adjustments, that having to move a joystick several inches to make the same adjustment just has me frazzled. I'm deadly accurate using a mouse in the many games I've practiced with, but couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with the X52 Pro in most cases. War Thunder (a game I love) has me ready to pull out the rest of my hair. Evochron works slightly better, but is still much harder to target using the stick, and I haven't found a great setup yet for thrusting in the 6 degrees of freedom you have in space.

The thrust part of the X52 Pro controller has, in my opinion, a bit of an odd shape, and a few of the buttons are in some slightly odd places. I'm also wondering in Dangerous whether the thrust will be relative to the thruster position (i.e. fully forward = 100%, fully back = full stop?) Maybe someone in the alpha using the X52 could enlighten me? I also wonder how reverse thrust will be handled - if I'm at max forward thrust, if I switch to reverse am I suddenly at 100% reverse thrust?

I want badly to like this fine piece of kit, but I'm having a very difficult time acclimatizing to the larger movements I have to make. I wonder if anyone in the alpha using the X52 Pro would be willing to share their keymap? And, if anyone has any advice for teaching an old dog a, well, old trick - I'm all ears...
 

Razorwire

Razorwire
Skulldugg3ry said:
...I haven't found a great setup yet for thrusting in the 6 degrees of freedom you have in space...
Click to expand...
I've got this set-up in mind : 3 rotational degrees are stick x, y and twist axis (twist on stick or pedals if i've got them by Beta1), Thrust forward/back is the main throttle and up/down and left/right translations are on my throttle hat switch. The bits I can test with the games I have so far have been good.
Certainly steering a mech's legs with the hat switch and the torso with the stick has worked out well.

Skulldugg3ry said:
...I'm also wondering in Dangerous whether the thrust will be relative to the thruster position (i.e. fully forward = 100%, fully back = full stop?) Maybe someone in the alpha using the X52 could enlighten me? I also wonder how reverse thrust will be handled - if I'm at max forward thrust, if I switch to reverse am I suddenly at 100% reverse thrust?...
Click to expand...
As I understand it (I'm not in Alpha, mind), that is configurable. You can either go with :
a) throttle 0-100 is forward 0-100 with a button to reverse the thrust,
b) throttle 0-50 is reverse 100-0 and throttle 51-100 is forward 0-100

I think. :rolleyes:
 

Memnoch

M
Razorwire said:
As I understand it (I'm not in Alpha, mind), that is configurable. You can either go with :
a) throttle 0-100 is forward 0-100 with a button to reverse the thrust,
b) throttle 0-50 is reverse 100-0 and throttle 51-100 is forward 0-100

I think. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Percentage wise at least this is how the Warthog works for me, at least I don't think it has a negative. Even if it did though, centring the throttle idles the engines.
 

graham.reeds

G
Memnoch said:
Percentage wise at least this is how the Warthog works for me, at least I don't think it has a negative. Even if it did though, centring the throttle idles the engines.
Click to expand...

I use the top thumb button on throttle pulled toward for reverse.

Conflicts with a button on the stick but that will be fixed soon.
 

Razorwire

Razorwire
Is there a config option to change the throttle behaviour over to "Full reverse @0, zero @50, full forward @100", or did I imagine that?
 

Björn Robèrt

B
Anyone in Alpha using a CH setup like the Fighterstrick and Throttle? I've been scouring the internet and have not seen one bad thing said about CH Products. I'm on the fence between a CH Fighterstrick + CH Pro Throttle, a TM Warthog or just wait for the X-55 Rhino. Saitek does get some flack around different forums and if I buy a setup I want it to last for a good long while.
 

Jack Booted Thug

J
Skulldugg3ry said:
I purchased a Saitek X52 Pro over the holidays. It's been a very difficult adjustment for this old mouse/keyboard user!

I was a kid last I used a joystick (an old Sidewinder many a year ago) and although I can tell that the X52 Pro is a quality piece of hardware, I just can't get over the range of motion you have to go through in order to make fine aim corrections. I guess I'm so used to being able to move the mouse ever so slightly to make those millimeter targeting adjustments, that having to move a joystick several inches to make the same adjustment just has me frazzled. I'm deadly accurate using a mouse in the many games I've practiced with, but couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with the X52 Pro in most cases. War Thunder (a game I love) has me ready to pull out the rest of my hair. Evochron works slightly better, but is still much harder to target using the stick, and I haven't found a great setup yet for thrusting in the 6 degrees of freedom you have in space.

The thrust part of the X52 Pro controller has, in my opinion, a bit of an odd shape, and a few of the buttons are in some slightly odd places. I'm also wondering in Dangerous whether the thrust will be relative to the thruster position (i.e. fully forward = 100%, fully back = full stop?) Maybe someone in the alpha using the X52 could enlighten me? I also wonder how reverse thrust will be handled - if I'm at max forward thrust, if I switch to reverse am I suddenly at 100% reverse thrust?

I want badly to like this fine piece of kit, but I'm having a very difficult time acclimatizing to the larger movements I have to make. I wonder if anyone in the alpha using the X52 Pro would be willing to share their keymap? And, if anyone has any advice for teaching an old dog a, well, old trick - I'm all ears...
Click to expand...



I'm keen to hear some in depth replies to this post.

I currently use keyboard and mouse and have not used a joystick since my commodore 64 days and joysticks were not even analogue back then.

I am improving with my mouse aim in Elite: Dangerous and I fear if I get a joystick I will be in the same position as the above poster. The thing is I don't want to stick with a keyboard and mouse if it will be a disadvantage for the game.

My concerns are the movement dynamic (as depicted in the above post) as well as the possibility of fatigue. There is no fatigue with a mouse as your arm can rest on the table, with a joystick my arm would not be resting.

Comments would be appreciated.

Thanks.
 

el_tel

el_tel
Hi Skulldugg3ry.

Skulldugg3ry said:
The thrust part of the X52 Pro controller has, in my opinion, a bit of an odd shape, and a few of the buttons are in some slightly odd places.
Click to expand...

Do you have the throttle on the left and the stick on the right, and not the other way around? :D

Like you, I hadn't used a joystick in years, so it did initially feel weird after using an XBox controller (and I'm not much use with one of those in any game), but stick with it (excuse the pun), and you WILL get to a point where you'll never want to go back. Playing the alpha with a properly-configured flight-stick really feels like flying (and yes all the configuration-things you asked about ARE possible).

Once you get the 'feel' of the controls, you'll be swooping around whilst using the throttle hat switch to sidestep obsticles, juggling thrust instinctively, or setting up on a strafing-run, switching off flight-assist and cutting main engines at exactly the right moment, then nudging the nose into rotation to deliver a devastating all-weapons barrage as you fly past.

I'm still working on the strafing-run :D

I've been practicing, er... I mean searching diligently for bugs, for about three weeks, on average 30 mins per day.
 
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